Various ?– Jesus Christ Superstar A Rock Opera - Rare Original 1970 UK Double LP

	£		102
	$		135

Artist & Title: Various ?– Jesus Christ Superstar - A Rock Opera

Rare original 1970 UK FIRST ISSUE 23-track double LP on the red & pink MCA label, featuring Murray Head as Judas Iscariot, Ian Gillan as Jesus Christ and Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene. Also featuring Tony Ashton, Madeline Bell, Brian Bennett, Sue and Sonny, Lesley Duncan and more. In the original laminated gatefold sleeve with 12-page libretto and inner sleeves.
Both records look like the day they were made and are in Excellent condition, with only a little light crackle here and there, and sound as wonderful as ever. The laminated gatefold cover shows very little signs of storage wear or laminate lift and the 12-page libretto is in immaculate mint condition. The inner sleeves are also in remarkable condition with no splits or other damage.  An overall grading for the cover, insert and inners of Excellent is easily justified. See pics. A very nice collector’s copy of this genre defining album – that really does rock by the way.
Highly desirable for its first issue matrices, early stampers, and excellent condition, and increasingly difficult to find in this kind of condition, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to add this rarity to your collection at an extremely advantageous price.

Catalogue Number: MCA Records ?– MKPS 2011/2 (MAPS 2075/6)

Release date: October 1970 (UK)

Overall Grade: EX/EX (LPs/Cover)

Matrix (Runout): Side 1: 7-214-2 1 DH  Side 2: 7-215 1 DG  Side 3: 7-216-2 1 DG  Side 4: 7-217 1 DG

Notes:
This is the original studio recording not one of the later film or stage cast recordings.
Recorded At Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, Advision Studios, Island Studios And Spot Productions Studios On 16-Track Tape.
Made in England.
Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice. Leeds Music Ltd. ? 1970
Licensed by MCA Records International, a division of MCA Inc. New York, U.S.A.
Sleeve printed in England by Robert Stace.

This historic double LP from Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber is hardly ever offered for sale in this condition.

“The album was the starting point of the Jesus Christ Superstar phenomenon and spawned the now world famous theatrical stage show and Hollywood film.”

This is the extremely rare real thing: a genuine 1970 UK first issue. All items are free from any major defects. See pics. All items are the genuine originals bought together by me in 1970 in the UK, not reprints or replacements. The LPs are the original 1970 UK stereo LPs, which were only played occasionally on top-end audiophile equipment and lovingly cared for.

Featuring a long list of legendary musicians, the album has renowned rock vocalist and Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan voicing the part of Jesus, platinum selling solo artist Murray Head as Judas Iscariot and the inimitable Yvonne Elliman in the role of Mary Magdalene. Originally released in 1970, the album achieved huge global fame, most notably in the United States where it went to Number 1 on the Billboard Album Chart, keeping other seminal records by George Harrison and Led Zeppelin off the top spot and going on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide.

Jesus Christ Superstar portrays the story of the last seven days of Christ’s life leading up to his crucifixion, with hit songs such as "Superstar", "I Don’t Know How To Love Him", "Heaven On Their Minds" and "Hosanna". Recorded in 1969, the album has since become recognised by many as one of the first rock concept albums. As well as having some of the era’s most prominent vocalists, the record also features a number of legendary rock music session musicians such as Neil Hubbard (Bryan Ferry, BB King, Elton John), Chris Spedding (Roxy Music, John Cale), Alan Spenner (Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton) and Bruce Rowland (Paul McCartney’s Wings, Fairport Convention).

This may be your only ONCE IN A LIFETIME chance to own this rare piece of music history in this condition.

 “I have the London cast version and have seen the movie, but they are not a patch on the sensitive, heartfelt, emotion packed interpretation by this amazing cast of disparate musicians and singers.”

Jesus Christ Superstar started life as a most improbable concept album from an equally unlikely label, Decca Records, which had not, until then, been widely known for ground-breaking musical efforts. It was all devised by then 21-year-old composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and 25-year-old lyricist Tim Rice. Jesus Christ Superstar had been conceived as a stage work, but lacking the funds to get it produced, the two collaborators instead decided to use an album as the vehicle for introducing the piece, a fairly radical rock/theatre hybrid about the final days in the life of Jesus as seen from the point of view of Judas. If its content seemed daring (and perhaps downright sacrilegious), the work, a "sung-through" musical echoing operatic and oratorio traditions, was structurally perfect for an album; just as remarkable as its subject matter was the fact that its musical language was full-blown rock music. There was at the time an American-spawned hit theatre piece called Hair that utilized elements of rock music, but it wasn't as unified a work as Webber and Rice's creation, and it was less built on rock music than on pop music that referred to rock; Webber and Rice's work presented a far sharper, bolder musical edge and pushed it much further and harder than Hair ever did. Serving as their own producers, the two creators got together more than 60 top-flight singers and musicians (including Chris Spedding, John Gustafson, Mike Vickers, P.P. Arnold, and members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band, not to mention Murray Head, Ian Gillan, and Yvonne Elliman in key singing roles), and managed to pull the whole production together into a more than coherent whole that contained a pair of hit singles (the title track and "I Don't Know How to Love Him") to help drive AM radio exposure. What's more, the whole album sounded like the real article as far as its rock music credibility was concerned -- it was played good and hard for a studio creation. Released in America by Decca as a handsomely decorated double-LP set complete with illustrated libretto, Jesus Christ Superstar seemed to pick up where the Who's Tommy (also a Decca release) and Hair had left off, and audiences from across the age and cultural spectrum responded. Teenagers who didn't know Jesus, opera, or oratorios liked the beat, the hard rock sounds, and the singing and bought the album, as did parents who felt that the record offered a chance to understand some aspects of this youth culture around them, and especially its music -- and so did some more forward-thinking clergy and theologians, who saw any opportunity to spread the word about Jesus where it wasn't previously going as intrinsically good.

A fantastic time warp example of this rarity in amazing condition, a true investment grade item - get it while you can!

AND IT MUST SELL IN THIS ONCE ONLY AUCTION

You can read more about this album all over the web.

I pack my records professionally in stiff corrugated cruciform record boxes leaving the Vinyl (housed in anti-static bags) outside the Sleeve.

Postage discounts for multiple orders are available: £1 per additional LP, up to a maximum of 4, in the UK.
£4 per additional LP, up to a maximum of 4, in the Rest of the World.

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